DYMO Endicia helps USPS extend reach to warehouses

Friday, April 06, 2012

The U.S. Postal Service wants more warehouse business and it's turning to technology service partners, such as DYMO Endicia, to help broaden its base.
DYMO Endicia, a technology partner to USPS since 2000, is expanding its existing services for printing postage from a shipping station in tandem with the Postal Service's effort to cover more smaller markets.
DYMO Endicia builds software that allows companies to access USPS in the same way other carrier software allows customers to print labels.
“A lot of people view the Postal Service as just the people that get your bills to your house,” Vivian Li, a brand manager for DYMO Endicia, told American Shipper. She noted the company already provides services to other warehouse operators and shippers.
This means DYMO Endicia goes after new customers with a two-prong approach. First the company must present USPS as a valid option for shipping packages from their warehouse and demonstrate how its systems can make accessing this shipping more efficient and cost effective. This covers not only shipping rates for products but methods to avoid or predict certain surcharges, use cost-effective postal alternatives, and manage USPS postage-paid labels.
In an interview, Chris Janus, also a brand manager for DYMO Endicia, said the company's ability to show rate comparisons to potential customers often helps them quickly come on board and give the USPS service a try. USPS can benefit since it has some flat-rate shipping options, a service that is not offered by all of its competitors for single-item shipments.
DYMO Endicia typically charges a monthly service fee for the ability to access and print labels but Li said companies can earn free service time once they reach a certain volume via a partnership DYMO has with the USPS.
Li said DYMO Endicia also has "partnerships with more than 160 software partners for this management, so it is often just as easy as turning us on in the back-end.” Janus said partners include ProShip, ConnectShip, Magento, and others.
The company can support a range of customer sizes and segments, from small infrequent shippers to third-party logistics companies and warehouse operators.
DYMO Endicia also provides integration with and access to other services provided by the USPS, such as package tracking and mobile notifications, and can integrate its systems with existing warehouse management systems.
Li said USPS has put a lot of money into its tracking software and packages are now scanned roughly 10 times during their trip, with future plans of reaching 13 scans per package, putting USPS on par with competitors that are well known for their tracking capabilities.
DYMO Endicia’s integrated offerings also support bulk acceptance to link a day’s worth of shipments to a single barcode form that USPS scans when picking up daily packages, automated customs forms for international packages, and batch processing and printing labels for all orders at one time.
“We’re currently working to get our message out to warehouse shippers who often immediately turn to UPS and FedEx for their direct-to-consumer shipments,” Li said. She feels that USPS often does a better job at delivering items direct to consumers because it already has an established route and is at every house nearly every day.
“As the industry and the marketplace have changed and how we access goods has changed, more and more items are being sent as smaller packages and single orders, and the USPS has competitive pricing on these,” Li said. “A small package going to someone’s home is their sweet spot.”
Li sees USPS as a company that will stay competitive in the marketplace since it has seen an increase in shipping volumes even as its traditional mailing volumes decline. She said it is partnering with DYMO Endicia and other technology partners so it can better enter the warehouse.
One thing DYMO Endicia offers is the ability for larger shippers to no longer need to manifest with USPS, handling those issues themselves and giving customers a discount simply for using the service.
Current expansions for USPS aimed at warehouses and shippers are regional-rate boxes with flat pricing and critical mail services that are only available for high-volume shippers.
The next step for DYMO Endicia is expanding support for international shipping and furthering its support around harmonization codes. The Postal Service has existing relationships with international postal services and customs agencies, which Li thinks both companies can capitalize on. - Geoff Whiting